Chapter 798 – Day 91 – The Princess Visits Ceres’ Playground
“It may be a somewhat dangerous place, but is it really okay?”
“You’ve already come this far, right? It’s okay, so don’t worry, stupid princess.”
“I don’t know what will really happen if I go down to Pandemonium…”
The princess and Hedone, who had extremely serious expressions, were barely riding one horse. Hedone’s hands were embracing the princess as if it was natural.
The two departed from the Aubert family mansion and headed straight to the place that Sitri had told them about. I couldn’t move around in a fancy carriage because it would spread rumors among the nobles, and I couldn’t take Leonie with me in a situation where I didn’t know what demons might appear.
In the end, they arrived at a place called a ‘playground’ alone, looking like they were a married couple.
“Are you sure Sitri didn’t say there was a path to Pandemonium here?”
“To be more precise, I said Mr. Ceres’ playground is here.”
“But! Isn’t there nothing here?! This means that wherever you look, the forest is overgrowing!”
The princess held the reins of her horse with her left hand and pointed to her surroundings with her right hand.
There were trees growing thickly everywhere. What was it even like in front of the princess?
“Look! Isn’t there a cliff in front of here with no end in sight? I have seen structures made by Ceres.”
“Even though I didn’t see it, I can immediately tell that there’s something missing here.”
Hedone let out a small sigh and looked around calmly. But no matter where you look, forest, forest, forest, tree, tree, tree…
‘It’s hard to believe that Sitri has fooled us now. I guess she really thought Mr. Ceres’ playground was here.’
Then why is there nothing but lush nature here?
Hedone was worried, and the princess was also worried.
“How about getting some help from Friday?”
“Friday is a spirit that resides in the items of ancient demons. It seems to have no meaning in a place full of trees like this.”
“Then we are in real trouble.”
Hedone attached her chest and chin to the princess’s back.
“There is no way that Sitri would come and trick us now.”
“Isn’t that obvious? What would happen if we, who thought we were deceived in the first place, got angry and went back? We’re not fools who can’t even tell the difference.”
Even as she spoke, the princess was at a loss. She thought that as soon as she got here she would find Ceres.
“Ugh… Um… But that’s true.”
The princess spoke while holding the reins of her horse with her left hand and stroking the back of Hedone’s hand around her waist.
“How is it possible for this playground to remain in good condition?”
“… Where are you? Can you see anything?”
“I was reflecting on Sitri’s words.”
“Ah, you said that the playgrounds in other places were either destroyed or turned into fiefdoms by nobles and disappeared without a trace.”
Hedone nodded and briefly rubbed her face on the princess’s back.
“It’s quite strange. It’s not that the Aubert family is less greedy or anything like that.”
“That’s right. Aren’t there not only the Ober family in the south, but also quite a few other families? I can’t tell when Ceres created the playground.”
The nobles were not fools enough to leave perfectly splendid buildings untouched, even if they had been built for just 10 or 100 years.
“Isn’t this a place with a dense forest? Wasn’t there a sawmill just around here? There were quite a few hunters…”
“There was a small town full of people who definitely paid their taxes.”
There was no way I could not have known them since they were the two of us who had come up to greet them and ask for directions.
“It’s definitely a place where people live, but didn’t you say that you’ve never even heard of a playground or a dungeon?”
“It’s strange. Are the buildings Mr. Ceres made so well hidden?”
“Is that possible? Ceres made it quite splendid. It felt like he ripped off a wonderful village and moved it as is.”
After speaking, the princess tilts her head.
“The more I think about it, the more bizarre it is.”
“What is the possibility that Sitri’s information is out of date?”
“If it’s said to have been devastated, shouldn’t there be at least some traces of it? No matter how much I looked around on the way up to this cliff, I couldn’t see any traces of a dungeon.”
Hedoneh nodded and looked worried and let out a long breath.
“It’s a puzzling thing. Where on earth is it hidden…”
“Hidden… Hidden…”
The princess suddenly opened her eyes wide and smiled.
“That’s right, that’s right! Ceres hid it to protect the playground he created!”
“… Where is it?”
“Haha! Isn’t there only one way to hide a building built on the ground?”
The princess, who spoke her words with a lively smile, lightly jumped off her horse and held out her hand to Hedone.
Hedone, who carefully held her hand, was brought down to the ground, and as the princess walked to the ‘edge of the cliff’ as if it were quite natural, she was surprised and grabbed her wrist.
“Foolish princess!”
“Haha, don’t worry, Hedone! There is definitely Ceres’ playground right in front of here!”
“Ah, no matter what! This doesn’t make any sense! Now the princess is sticking her leg out of the cliff like an idiot…”
As if it was only natural, the princess put out her right foot and stepped on the ‘edge of the cliff.’ And when he took one more step forward, Hedone was startled and dropped both her hands.
“What is this…”
“Is there a better way to hide things than to be invisible? Don’t worry, follow me.”
The princess skillfully pulled the reins of her horse. Of course, Hedone and her horse were startled and refused to walk to the edge of the cliff, shaking their heads, but there was no way in the face of her superhuman strength.
“Ugh, ugh… AaaaaH…!”
Hedone, who ended up levitating her, instinctively grabbed the princess’s waist and made her scream.
─Puhihihing!
Hedone, embarrassed by the sound of her horse, slowly opened her eyes and saw the princess walking in front of her, looking very proud.
“Oh my god…”
I couldn’t see anything until just a moment ago, but when Hedone took a few steps, very cozy and perfectly built, pretty buildings came into view.
“The buildings here… Seem to have been taken from the Gregorian architectural style, but they also seem to have been somewhat taken from the southerners’ style.”
“Didn’t I tell you? Ceres is a demon that loves people very much. I hope that one day, humans on the ground and demons in the underground will be together in a land like this, in paradise.”
The princess walked forward with a small snort and began walking toward a familiar-looking, rugged-looking square building.
“It looks like the road to Pandemonium is over there.”
“It looks like the princess is really familiar with these things.”
“It is knowledge and wisdom gained through time travel.”
After saying that, the princess stopped her legs for a moment and looked at the buildings near her for a moment.
“Someday…”
“The demons in the underground will be able to live peacefully with us humans in a building like this.”
“Do you really think like that?”
“Even if it’s not tomorrow, you’re working hard, right? Foolish princess.”
The princess smiled a little at Hedone’s warm words, took her hand, and opened the door in front of her.
“Cough… Cough… I can tell right away that Mr. Ceres was not able to manage it.”
Haha, isn’t it better than having scary monsters pop out?”
The princess, who had somehow cleared away the dust spewing out from within by waving her hand, looked at the interior of a building where an immeasurable amount of time had passed.
“I feel like it happened less than a month ago…”
The princess began to carefully walk out of the room filled with pure white dust, passed the area where she changed her clothes, and approached the large disc.
“Where is the road to Pandemonium? Foolish princess?”
“Where I stand now is that path.”
“… Were you going down a ladder? Oh, my.”
She should have worn a lighter dress, but she was already feeling tired.
Haha! How can that be? There is an object that operates on a similar principle to a dimensional gateway.”
“Ah, then…”
As Hedone stepped back slightly, the princess began to caress the objects near her in a somewhat familiar manner.
“Ceres taught me how to operate it properly, so I think she will be able to use it somehow.”
She carefully started up the dashboard, pulling and shaking various switches and levers. The princess looked proud as a humming sound came from the huge machine.
“If you use this machine, you can go to Pandemonium, where Ceres is.”
“Is there any problem if the princess and I go down?”
“Well, there’s actually no way.”
In order to fight Emperor Jupiter, more remains of the gods are needed.
It is highly likely that God’s remains are enshrined in a demonic facility.
The only person who knows the exact location of such a facility is Ceres.
“Isn’t Ceres the one I love as much as Hedone? Doesn’t Cere even have Minos with her?”
Rather than giving numerous plausible reasons, Hedone looked at the princess who spoke about her love with eyes full of love.
“I like that about the princess. Now, let’s go quickly. Mr. Ceres might unexpectedly want our help, right?”
Hedone, who spoke her words with a smile, was a woman who would go to the bottom of hell if the princess went.
